Opposition to Kavanaugh Had Been Rising Before Accusation

Story Highlights

Public was tilting against confirmation, 42% to 39%

In prior surveys, more favored than opposed confirmation

Nominees typically see rise in opposition during confirmation process

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In polling conducted last week, partly before and partly after allegations that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted a teenage girl when he was a teen, 39% of Americans said they favored his confirmation to the Supreme Court and 42% were opposed. That represents a slight shift from two prior surveys in which more thought his nomination should be confirmed rather than rejected.

The latest poll was conducted Sept. 10-16. Last Wednesday, Sept. 12, a news report surfaced that there were sensitive allegations against Kavanaugh, and on Sept. 14, a reporter for The New Yorker detailed that those allegations involved sexual assault. On Sunday, The Washington Post published an interview with the accuser, Christine Blasey Ford. Kavanaugh has strongly denied the allegations.

Polling conducted Sept. 14-16 -- consisting of roughly 600 interviews -- showed no meaningful change in views on the Kavanaugh nomination compared with polling done earlier in the week. Thus, opposition to Kavanaugh was already increasing before the allegations were publicized, and the allegations appeared to have had no immediately negative effect on public opinion. The shift seen before the allegations may be in response to the Sept. 4-7 Senate confirmation hearings. Now that the sexual assault story has become front-page news, it is unclear if opinion might shift in the coming days. The Senate has scheduled hearings for Monday and invited both Kavanaugh and Ford to testify.

Risein Opposition to Nominees Is the Norm

Greater opposition over the course of a confirmation process is consistent with the historical trends for past Supreme Court nominees, even for those who had relatively smooth confirmations.

Historically, as the confirmation process plays out, Americans become more likely to have an opinion about whether the nominee should be confirmed, based on data for seven prior nominees about whom Gallup polled on multiple occasions. The average 10-point drop in the percentage not having an opinion between the initial measurement on their nomination and the final measure has mostly been accompanied by an increase in the percentage opposed to the nominee, averaging seven percentage points, with a minimal change in the percentage favoring confirmation.

Changes in Opinions About Supreme Court Nominations Between Initial and Final Readings

Would you like to see the Senate vote in favor of [...] serving on the Supreme Court, or not?

First reading

Final reading

Change, vote in favor

Change, not vote in favor

Change, no opinion

pct. pts.

pct. pts.

pct. pts.

Kagan

May 2010

Aug 2010

0

+4

-4

Sotomayor

May 2009

Jul 2009

+1

+8

-10

Alito

Nov 2005

Jan 2006

+4

+5

-9

Miers

Oct 2005

Oct 2005

-2

+7

-5

Roberts

Jul 2005

Sep 2005

+1

+4

-5

Thomas

Jul 1991

Oct 1991

+6

+13

-19

Bork

Aug 1987

Sep 1987

+7

+10

-18

AVERAGE

+2

+7

-10

Gallup

Opposition to Kavanaugh's nomination has increased five points compared with the initial poll on his confirmation in July, with the percentage in favor down two points and a three-point decline in no opinion.

Most prior nominees were well-regarded by the public when first announced, so any increase in opposition later in the process still left Americans solidly behind their confirmation. Because opinions about Kavanaugh's confirmation were divided from the start, the fairly modest shift in opinion since July has been enough to make him just the second nominee who ever had opposition that exceeded support.

Harriet Miers is the other prior high-court nominee who did not have greater support than opposition. Just before her October 2005 nomination was withdrawn amid increasing questions about her qualifications, 42% of Americans favored the Senate confirmation of Miers and 43% were opposed. That compared with a 44% to 36% gap in favor of her confirmation just after George W. Bush chose her.

Gallup has asked about 11 of the past 14 Supreme Court nominees since 1987 at least once. Robert Bork is the only other nominee for whom support did not exceed opposition by a significant margin in Gallup's final measure before the Senate vote.

Support for Prior Supreme Court Nominees, Final Survey, 1987-2018

Would you like to see the Senate vote in favor of […] serving on the Supreme Court, or not?

Vote in favor

Not vote in favor

Margin

%

%

pct. pts.

Brett Kavanaugh

39

42

-3

Neil Gorsuch

45

32

+13

Merrick Garland

52

29

+23

Elena Kagan

46

36

+10

Sonia Sotomayor

55

36

+19

Samuel Alito

54

30

+24

Harriet Miers

42

43

-1

John Roberts

60

26

+34

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

53

14

+39

Clarence Thomas

58

30

+28

Robert Bork

38

35

+3

Reading for Kavanaugh is latest. Gallup did not measure support for the nominations of Anthony Kennedy, David Souter or Stephen Breyer. Gallup measured support for Neil Gorsuch, Merrick Garland and Ruth Bader Ginsburg just once, shortly after each was first nominated.

Gallup

There are similarities between the Kavanaugh revelations and sexual harassment allegations made against Clarence Thomas during his 1991 hearings. While opposition to Thomas' nomination did grow significantly in the fall of 1991, from 17% to 30%, his support never dropped below the 52% he enjoyed in the initial poll. On the eve of the Senate vote, an Oct. 14 Gallup Poll found 58% in favor of the Senate confirming Thomas and 30% opposed.

Record Polarization in Views of Kavanaugh Confirmation

Opinions about Supreme Court nominations have become increasingly polarized by party over time, likely reflecting the same trends seen in ratings of presidents. In the 1990s, slightly more than 20 percentage points separated Democrats' and Republicans' views of whether Thomas and Ruth Bader Ginsburg should be confirmed. Beginning in the mid-2000s, Republicans' and Democrats' opinions on nominees have diverged by at least 40 points. Last year, there was a 53-point gap in party support for President Donald Trump's first nominee, Neil Gorsuch.

Opinions about Kavanaugh's confirmation have been the most politically polarized to date, with an average 60-point gap in the percentage of Republicans (75%) and Democrats (15%) who want him to be confirmed.

Partisan Gaps in Favor of Prior Supreme Court Nominees

Figures are the average percentage who want the nominee confirmed across all measurements for the nominee

Republicans

Independents

Democrats

Republican-Democratic Gap

%

%

%

pct. pts.

Kavanaugh

75

37

15

60

Gorsuch

74

44

21

53

Garland

33

44

76

-43

Kagan

23

44

69

-45

Sotomayor

27

53

76

-49

Alito

75

45

32

43

Miers

70

38

25

45

Roberts

79

52

39

40

Ginsburg

41

52

65

-24

Thomas

67

51

45

22

Gallup

The already low support for Kavanaugh among Democrats could be one reason the sexual assault allegations have not yet affected the opinion of his confirmation. His 37% support among independents is also on the low end of past measurements for that group, although there is still room for that to decline. Kavanaugh's 75% support among Republicans is right in line with what the president's co-partisans have given prior nominees.

Implications

The sexual assault allegations have undoubtedly imperiled Kavanaugh's nomination. The public had not been overly enthusiastic about his nomination from the beginning, although until now that might have had as much to do with Trump's unpopularity and increased political polarization as with Kavanaugh himself.

But even before the allegations surfaced late last week, Americans' attitudes had tilted against Kavanaugh's confirmation. Senators uncomfortable with voting to confirm him could factor public opinion into their decision calculus. And if they do, voting against Kavanaugh would not be inconsistent with public preferences, in contrast to what was the case for Thomas in 1991. As more is learned about the allegations in the coming days, opinion could shift more solidly against Kavanaugh's being confirmed. It is also possible the further investigation into the incident could work to Kavanaugh's benefit and turn the tide of public opinion back in his favor.

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Sept. 10-16, 2018, on the Gallup U.S. Poll, with a random sample of 1,508 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.

Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 70% cellphone respondents and 30% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods.